As a banknote handling apparatus for handling banknotes, various type ones have been conventionally known. For example, JP2002-203264A discloses a banknote depositing machine to be installed in a bank lobby and so on. In the banknote depositing machine disclosed in JP2002-203264A, when a plurality of banknotes of various denominations are deposited, banknotes having been put into a banknote inlet unit are fed, one by one, to a transport unit in a machine body, the banknotes are recognized by a recognition unit disposed at the transport unit, and, based on the recognition result, the banknotes are stored for each denomination into a plurality of storing units. In the banknote depositing machine disclosed in JP2002-203264A, a banknote having been recognized as a fit note by the recognition unit and a banknote having been recognized as an unfit note by the recognition unit are stored into the different storing units.
In a banknote handling apparatus configured to perform a banknote depositing and dispensing process, there is a case in which, after a banknote has been stored into a storing unit in a machine body by a depositing process, the banknote having been stored into the storing unit is used as a banknote to be loaded into an ATM or as a banknote to be dispensed to a customer in a bank counter. At this time, when only a banknote whose serial number, which is unique information for specifying an individual banknote, is to be used as a banknote to be loaded into an ATM or as a banknote to be dispensed to a customer in a bank counter, the conventional banknote handling apparatus has a problem in that it cannot directly use the banknote stored in the storing unit, as a banknote to be loaded into an ATM or as a banknote to be dispensed to a customer in a bank counter. This is because, in the conventional banknote handling apparatus, a banknote whose serial number has been read out by the recognition unit and a banknote whose serial number has not been recognized by the recognition unit are stored in a mixed state in the storing unit.